Friendship is Card Games: Forgotten Friendship · 12:34pm Feb 18th, 2018
Well. That happened. And I mean that in the best way. Part of why I wrote an Anon-a-Miss fic so long after the fact was because I wanted to get it out before canon did “Sunset’s friends turn on her” right. I didn’t know it would go this right. Let’s begin.
I do like the full version of the new Equestria Girls opening. Concisely conveying a lot of information in a short time frame. The song itself’s a bit hit-and-miss, but still good stuff overall.
They cut the title card from the TV airing. For reference, here it is.
The opening song reviewed the movies nicely, though the lyrics were a bit on the nose at times. Sometimes more than a bit. No word on when this fits in with the Dance/Movie/Mirror Magic trilogy, though.
I do love how Twilight seems to trust her telekinesis more than her hands when it comes to operating technology. Even if that means just removing a digital camera’s cartoonishly oversized memory card. A memory card that seems to have been magically infused beyond her handling it. Huh.
This special confirms that the musical numbers are happening diegetically multiple times. I can only imagine what science makes of the phenomenon.
Also, apparently these humans do call their language English. I’m mildly disappointed. Or I can blame the translator.
Hmm. Yearbook superlatives are usually meant for the senior class, but Sunset did get one in her freshman year. Frustratingly inconclusive, that. Though I do have to love Twilight’s not-jealousy of Microchips. “Oh, I’ll invent cold fusion. I’ll invent it all over his face!”
Also, I have to wonder what Sunset thought of getting “biggest meanie” at the time. Satisfaction at them acknowledging her ruthlessness, or fury at the disrespect from the yearbook committee?
Hello there, blue herring, I mean Trixie.
So… how did Trixie get in the yearbook room if the door was locked?
You know, Wallflower, you could always turn the lights back on.
Subtle touch with the towels: They do have differently colored outlines.
As I said last week, most depressing beach episode ever. Though I have to wonder how the girls would respond to questions like “Who stopped Midnight Sparkle?” Heck, there’s even an inconsistency between Twilight’s memories and the others’; Twilight remembers Sunset being part of the Canterlot Friendship Games team, but logically, the others wouldn’t, since those were positive memories given the perspectives and context involved. Of course, I can’t expect Sunset to approach this situation from a rational, logical viewpoint. This is basically her worst nightmare. Plus, we see the others justify their way around her attempts at proof later. The inconsistencies might be harder for them to explain their way around, but they’d still make the effort. Sunset as they remember her just can’t be their friend; it doesn’t make sense to them.
Huh. They still haven’t fixed the statue yet. I think that actually puts this one before some of the shorts, assuming they’re canon.
I see Twilight fixed the bit of the portal mechanism that launches those entering Equestria across the room.
Also, I doubt I’ll ever get tired of seeing Sunset remember how to horse.
I’ll be honest, for a moment, I thought Twilight was going to bring in Star Swirl. 
It’s so weird to see pegasi gallop in midair, like that one guard does in the first establishing shot of Canterlot. That said, I suspect this is closer to the usual amount of air traffic around the capital. Clear skies are probably a more precious commodity around Equestria’s cities than we realize.
The reunion was amazing… though Celestia wasn’t helping, given that unapproachable demeanor. Definitely showing a side of herself we rarely see. She does not deal well with the impertinent. Still, as I said, touching canon reunion. Echoes of Luna there, with a long-estranged loved one hugging Celestia and apologizing.
I love the little wing slap as Twilight tries to get Sunset to stop laughing.
“This ‘faculty lot’ you speak of sounds like a place of great power.” Luna didn’t get to do much here, but this was still a fantastic line. Though it does say a lot about how little she knows of the human world. Pony Twilight apparently isn’t sharing many of her findings on the place.
Huh. A two-alicorn lock on the restricted section? I assume they had it installed after Luna’s return.
Also, there is a restricted section, though in the Canterlot Library rather than anything on the castle grounds. Also no Necronomicon for one, which is probably a good thing given Twilight’s “Dash at the end of ‘Sonic Rainboom’”-grade nerdgasm.
… I’m not the only one who heard Canterlot Cannibals, Vol. 31, right? How long has equiphagy been a thing in the capital that that much could be written on the subject?
Apparently the carrot lobby was a truly pernicious force back in Chancellor Puddinghead’s day.
So, the Memory Stone is a tiny Gossip Stone from the Legend of Zelda series? I can’t tell if that’s ironic or not. I wonder if the Mask of Truth protects you from its effects.
Huh. We get some fascinating rapid-fire world building. Clover the Clever existed (which wasn’t certain given “Shadow Play” never mentions him,) was male, had seven legendary trials of his own to get through, and went through the portal on his own. Not surprising that he knew of his master’s dimensional gateway. Or that he picked up Star Swirl’s bad habit of solving problems by throwing them in other universes.
That said, no word on Clover’s relationship with young, barbaric Celestia.
I kind of want to see a ponified version of Memento with Clover and the memory-wiping sorceress. Don’t believe her lies, Clover.
There was a satisfactory amount of Best Sophont in this special, in a variety of species.
No offense, Celestia, but you weren’t exactly the best teacher Sunset could’ve had. Incompatible teaching and learning styles. Some of that’s on Sunset… but not all of it. After all, the fact that she’s surprised that you have a sense of humor speaks volumes.
Actually, we’ve seen Celestia show her more lighthearted side since Season 1. I think this may say a lot about how Luna’s return impacted her. It’d certainly explain Twilight’s test anxiety if Celestia herself buried her own concerns under a distant demeanor. Sunset leaving as the timeframe got tighter and tighter couldn’t have helped that.
So… why did human Twilight program her camera drone with the capacity for fear? I suppose giving it self-preservation instincts ensures it won’t destroy itself while seeking the perfect selfie. Probably went through several iterations before getting that pinned down.
Three hits and off the net? That’s a dead ball, Pinkie, and you know it.
“Flawless” photos, says Trixie. Sunset’s photomanipulation skills consisted of cutting out photos. Giving her a bit too much credit there, Trix.
That being said, while Trixie is the fake-out antagonist here as in the Anon-a-Miss holiday comic, everything after the initial confrontation goes so much better. It’s amazing to see her empathize with Sunset’s plight and help in her own idiosyncratic way.
How old is Maud? I know, I know, trying to make a sane chronology out of this series is the path to madness, but this won’t ever not bother me.
It’s the third day already? How long were pony Twilight and Sunset researching?
That said, if we assume the memories were wiped around Friday and they all went to the beach over the weekend… Double checking confirms that the plan was to go to the beach on Sunday. The math checks out.
Makes sense that Clover would’ve buried the stone near the portal. No telling how much time he had to bury the thing before the portal closed, and he had to get used to the whole “suddenly human” thing.
And so we have our motive. Wallflower is the ultimate background human. (Hmm. Unmemorable green person…) She hasn’t seen Sunset change; she still gets treated the same as ever.
Apparently, Clover left instructions for how to use the lethemantic artifact of great and terrible power. And put a preservation spell on them to keep them from decaying after however many centuries. I can’t call that especially clever.
Huh. Apparently the Memory Stone uses magic similar to that of Notion Thieves… though that does beg the question of how Sunset’s getting shots of her friends’ bedrooms from Wallflower’s memories.
Again, amazing use of diegetic musical numbers. And a good attempt by Sunset; a shame the choreography moved Wallflower in view of her.
The lock’s a useful dramatic device, but I can see other doors in the yearbook room. I assume they’re also locked and/or lead to unhelpful storage closets.
A song’s music can be recorded. This raises so many fascinating questions about the nature of these universes…
Trixie has a point. Sunset’s temper has always been her greatest weakness, and the stress of losing everything she’s held dear has caused her to fall back on old habits. Plus, you don’t get a medal for not tormenting people. Not that Wallflower is entirely blameless, but we’ll get back to that soon.
Holy crap. Trixie has actual magic. Given her history with magic, that had to be one of the most satisfying moments in her life. (And I’m not at all surprised that she finally pulled it off while helping a friend. Goodness knows she’s been exposed to enough Equestrian magic to channel friendship as a power source.)
Uh, Twilight? You wanna telekinese the villain’s weapon out of her hand while she’s monologuing?
Sunset post-mindwipe is one of the saddest and most disturbing moments to come out of this entire franchise. And unlike, say, the effects of Starlight’s hodgepodged spell in “Every Little Thing She Does,” there’s no horror to be had at the blithe reaction of the mentalist. Even Wallflower is horrified by what she’s done, and rightfully so. She didn’t just remove Sunset’s memories of Canterlot High. Judging by Sunset’s questions, Wallflower removed even the memories that led to her leaving Equestria. As far as Sunset can tell, she went from the student of the sun to an almost magicless ape in the blink of an eye.
For all that what led to it is quietly horrific, I have to love Sunset’s expression after she transforms. She has absolutely no idea what to make of these shenanigans, and it’s honestly kind of great. So is Pinkie interrupting Twilight’s judgement monologue… which is honestly the right move. If Wallflower remembered the Memory Stone before they fired the Rainbow Beam of Smite Disharmony…
That said, major credit to the writers for breaking the usual EqG pattern; Wallflower never became a literal, physical monster.
I’ll take every moment of Sunlight I can get, this one included. And who holds hands first in the intro, but even I’ll admit that’s stretching it.
And here we see how Wallflower contributed to her own problem. True to form with humans given magic they weren’t meant to have, she was quietly addicted to the Memory Stone’s power. That meant preventing every potential bond she might have formed from doing so because of the awkwardness involved. She had trapped herself in isolation. I can’t blame her for lashing out, but I can blame her for putting herself in that situation.
Face it, Sunset, Celestia is your second best teacher. At best.
I love Pinkie's cartoony signature in Wallflower’s copy of the yearbook, and how the signers incorporate their cutie marks (though that raises some old questions for me.) And how Wallflower’s forming friendships now that she doesn’t have the option of resetting. Sometimes a little awkwardness can go a long way.
Again, an amazing special from start to finish, giving us the Sunset-in-Equestria moments we’d hoped “Mirror Magic” would provide. Here’s hoping Season 8 can meet the same level of quality.
For now, though, I can’t forget the other half of this blog:
Edible Sunscreen 1W
Instant
Target creature you control gains lifelink and protection from the color of your choice until end of turn.
”Chemistry class is so much fun! I only caused three explosions this month!”
—Pinkie Pie
Magician’s Exit 1U
Instant
Kicker — Reveal a Wizard card from your hand. (You may reveal a Wizard card from your hand in addition to any other costs as you cast this spell.)
Exile target creature, then return it to the battlefield under its owner’s control. If Magician’s Exit was kicked, scry 2.
Open the Restricted Section 1U
Sorcery
You may choose a card you own from outside the game, reveal that card, and put it on top of your library. Exile Open the Restricted Section.
The direst tomes are saved for times of direst need.
“Invisible” 2U
Enchantment — Song
At the beginning of your upkeep, put a verse counter on “Invisible”.
2U, Sacrifice “Invisible”: Up to X target creatures you control gain hexproof until end of turn and can’t be blocked this turn, where X is the number of verse counters on “Invisible”.
Ordeal of Clover 2U
Enchantment — Aura
Enchant creature
Whenever enchanted creature attacks, put a +1/+1 counter on it. Then if it has three or more +1/+1 counters on it, sacrifice Ordeal of Clover.
When you sacrifice Ordeal of Clover, you may cast an instant or sorcery card from your hand or graveyard without paying its mana cost. If a card cast this way would be put into a graveyard this turn, exile it.
Sandmaiden 2U
Creature — Merfolk Shaman
Sandmaiden can’t be blocked by red creatures.
”Even stubborn earth has its cycles and currents.”
2/3
Forgotten Altercation 2UU
Instant
Cast Forgotten Altercation only during combat.
End the phase. (Exile all spells and abilities on the stack, including this card. Remove all creatures from combat. “Until end of combat” effects end. Begin the postcombat main phase.)
Wallflower never did like conflict.
Cunning Sorceress 3U
Creature — Pony Wizard
Whenever you cast a noncreature spell, target player puts the top three cards of his or her library into his or her graveyard.
”Half the fun of memory magic is seeing unicorns be shocked by my tribe again and again.”
2/4
Reasonable Doubt 3U
Instant
Draw a card, then counter target spell unless its controller pays 1 for each card in your hand.
With only her worst moments in their memories, none of Sunset’s friends believed her claims of reformation.
Kelp Creeper 4U
Creature — Elemental
1(gu): Kelp Creeper gains hexproof until end of turn.
”At this point, monsters just walking out of the ocean wouldn’t even surprise me.”
—Rarity
4/4
Snide Pupil 2B
Creature — Unicorn Wizard
Whenever Snide Pupil deals combat damage to a player, you draw a card and lose 1 life.
”Some students lack the necessary patience to appreciate my methods.”
—Princess Celestia
2/2
Canterlot Cannibals 4B
Creature — Unicorn
Whenever a Pony, Pegasus, or Unicorn you control dies, put a +1/+1 counter on Canterlot Cannibals.
Urban legends speak of mad bakers and horrific acts committed in the clouds. On the topic of unicorns, they are strangely silent.
3/3
Shakedown Specialist 4B
Creature — Human Rogue
Prowl 2B (You may cast this card for its prowl cost if you dealt combat damage to a player this turn with a Human or Rogue.)
Extort (Whenever you cast a spell, you may pay (wb). If you do, each opponent loses 1 life and you gain that much life.)
3/2
Repelling Hostility 1R
Sorcery
Gain control of target creature with power X or less until end of turn, where X is the number of creatures that creature’s controller controls as you cast Repelling Hostility. Untap that creature. It gains haste until end of turn.
Sunset found herself more alone than ever before.
Gardening Club 2G
Creature — Human Druid
Druids you control have “T: Add G to your mana pool.”
”After I helped some of the new members stay calm through a bunny stampede, I had friends for life.”
—Wallflower Blush
1/3
“We’ve Come So Far” 2G
Enchantment — Song
At the beginning of your upkeep, put a verse counter on “We’ve Come So Far”.
4G, Exile “We’ve Come So Far”: Return up to X target cards from your graveyard to your hand, where X is the number of verse counters on “We’ve Come So Far”.
The future is built on the work of the past.
Camera Drone 3
Artifact Creature — Drone
Flying
Whenever you cast a spell that targets one or more creatures you control, draw a card.
”Some people say artificial intelligence is cause for concern. I say it's a way to make new friends.”
—Twilight Sparkle
1/3
Canterlot Yearbook 3
Artifact
Canterlot Yearbook doesn’t untap during your untap step.
3, T: Draw a card.
Tap an untapped Human you control: Untap Canterlot Yearbook.
Memories sealed in pictures and signatures.
The Memory Stone 3
Legendary Artifact
T: Exile the top card of target player’s library.
1BB, T: Search target player’s library for a nonland card and exile it. Then that player shuffles his or her library.
When The Memory Stone leaves the battlefield, each player shuffles all cards he or she owns exiled with it into his or her library.
Harmony’s Judgement B(gw)
Sorcery
Exile target nonland permanent. That permanent’s controller gains life equal to its converted mana cost.
”Go and be a jerk no more.”
—Twilight Sparkle
Unseen Aide UB
Creature — Human Advisor
Hexproof
Skulk (This creature can’t be blocked by creatures with greater power.)
Whenever Unseen Aide deals combat damage to a player, you may pay 2UB. If you do, transform it.
”Don’t mind me. I’ll just work here. Alone. In the dark.”
1/1
Wallflower, Lethemancer
(UB) Legendary Creature — Human Wizard
Hexproof
Wallflower, Lethemancer can’t be blocked.
Whenever this creature transforms into Wallflower or deals combat damage to a player, target opponent reveals his or her hand. You choose a nonland card from it. Exile that card until Wallflower leaves the battlefield.
3/3
Solar Reunion RW
Instant
You gain 4 life. Add RRWW to your mana pool.
For a moment, it was as though Sunset had never left.
Equestrian Exaltation 4GW
Sorcery
Creatures you control get +X/+X and gain vigilance until end of turn, where X is the number of creatures you control.
For the first time in this strange world, Sunset felt something familiar.
Memory Purge XUB
Sorcery
Choose X. You may choose the same mode more than once.
• Target player discards a card.
• Target player puts the top four cards of his or her library into his or her graveyard.
Faculty Lot
Land
T: Add C to your mana pool.
1(rw), T: Target Vehicle becomes an artifact creature until end of turn.
”It still amazes me how casually humans can treat explosion-powered metal carriages.”
—Sunset Shimmer
This was an amazing trip. Not least because CLOVER
Now, I had to go back and check, but the Journal of the Two Sisters is clear that Clover was a girl. So for my purposes, these events were swapped between the rule 63 universe, for an added layer of complication and verification.
It's definitely after the 'Magic' trio of specials, given how much faster Sunset 'remembers how to horse' here then she did there.
Beyond that, it was a really good overall story, but not my favorite thing ever either. For one, I just don't really care for stories that go for the amnesia route, even if this was done really well, just not really my cup of tea. Then there is the villain and just, meh. First 'redeemable' villain since Sunset herself that I just felt no sympathy for at all. This was wholly and entirely her own damn fault, and she just goes around throwing a hissy fit over how DARE others be happy? Not to mention the 'moral' of, apparently, unless you go out of your way to be nice and friendly to every single person in existence, they are perfectly justified in hating you. Yeah, no. No one is at fault for anything here, or has any blame at all in this except Wallflower herself.
Still, some really really great Best Horse-Woman, a touching reunion, that yes, does hint at some deeper stuff to Celestia back then and how she really might have been a bit too hard on students out of trying to push them to be ready to return Luna to her, amazing Twidorkableness, still enjoyed it overall. Maybe bought 8 or 7 /10
Oh, and was I alone in thinking of Long Road to Freindship when Trixie managed to teleport?
4799677
On the other hand, the G. M. Berrow chapter book Princess Celestia and the Summer of Royal Waves explicitly makes Clover male. So, clear as mud. :P
I've noticed alot of people assume the stone was the cause of Wallflower's problem but it's made it clear with the flashback that she had problems before she found the stone. After all Sunset didn't remember her despite being on the year book committee together and even forgot she was in the room.
4799695
I was about to mention that the chronology in-episode was confusing for that very reason. Nobody knew her before she got the stone. We had the scene about the superlatives in the yearbook room, THEN we saw the magic leak leading to the garden. I assumed she found it after that. Which also makes me wonder what exactly happened with the leak. The stone was apparently placed there 1000 +/- years ago (Equestrian time - still not sure how time in one world relates to the other) so did the leak kind of "activate" it so it drew Wallflower to it? And apparently she can read Old Ponish. I'm going to have to re-watch to see if I missed (or misunderstood) something in there.
Up until the end, I fully expected Wallflower to *be* the ancient sorceress from Equestria. I haven't read the book this was based on so I didn't know. Much happier they didn't go that route.
All that said, I still really enjoyed it. I'm not a huge EqG fan, but this was a lot of fun. Very close to Rainbow Rocks for me.
And I think Pinkie Pie just solidified my ranking for "best human".
4799685
Maybe Clover perfect a sex-change spell!
4799712
Based on the flashback she seemed to find it after the Friendship Games (there were shadowbolts at the party she left). The stone also has nothing to do with the leak, it works based on it's own magic like the Element of Magic.
One little detail I liked about this was that Sunset is apparently surprised that Princess Celestia has a prankish side, as though it wasn’t something she’d developed until very recently.
I can sort of imagine that she started playing harmless jokes to make Twilight laugh, and gently coax her out of her anxiety.
I've read fanfics of Celestia and Sunset's reunion that had more depth, but for the short time the writers spent on it, the canon reunion was more than adequate. It made me say “aw,” out loud, so it was good enough.
I kind of want to write that fanfic, if my attention weren't already divided among other projects.
Yeah, what? (This is why I'd probably have to make his fanfic a comedy. For a clever guy, he does some pretty dumb things.)
The diegetic songs support the Heartsong headcanon, and the girls' nonchalant reaction indicates that they're normal for the EG world.
Headcanon accepted (though I don't know how someone accidentally teleports someone else, unless there's a distinct “switch places” spell).
Maybe Wallflower would just tighten her grip on it. Of course, it would've been nice to at least show Sci-Twi making an effort.
Yeah, this was an incredible special, and timely given recent events. The special shows the importance of reaching out to troubled loners, though they have to do their best to seek help if they can't function in society. I don't want to drag this review down too much, however. I should also note that Wallflower is not psychotic and didn't even seem to be a troublemaker before she got the magic stone. She was just very awkward and sad and lonely.
Anyway, this is a great special all around with possibly the best writing EG has seen, or at least it's up there with Rainbow Rocks. I have only a few nitpicks, like Clover the Clever being stupid.
Indeed.
As usual, your cards and commentary are both great. Hooray for the return of non-comic content.
4799727
I have no problem with this mainly because it's a memory stealing magical artifact. That is ridiculously dangerous and if someone was going to find it I'd prefer they have the instructions rather than risking them figuring it out through trial and error.
4799731
That may have been Clover's reasoning, although in that case it would've been better to write fake instructions. Make future generations think it's an ancient ax head or hammerstone or something.
Wait what did I miss this time?
4799677 4799685 4799713
It's entirely possible that Clover was in a Tiresias-like situation at some point. (The prolonged gender change part, not the blind part.) Heck, given Star Swirl, I wouldn't be surprised if s/he changed gender every time s/he hiccuped!
4799683
We've seen that prolonged magic use leads to irrationality in most humans. Heck, in Juniper Montage's case, "prolonged" meant "an hour or two." Wallflower had the Memory Stone for a lot longer than that; it's no surprise that she blamed Sunset for her problems. It was a lot easier and less terrifying than trying to put herself out there, especially once she got in the habit of erasing awkward moments.
4799695
There was definitely a period where Wallflower had merely mundane levels of social awkwardness, but the Memory Stone did not help matters. In Wallflower's words, she erased "literally any public speaking." There's no telling just how many memories of her were permanently lost.
4799720
Also a possibility, though I still like the idea that Celestia lightened up a lot once she no longer had to worry about Nightmare Moon.
4799774
Quite good hour-long EqG special. See here.
Huh, now that I think of it, giving Sunset a superlative in Freshman Year is weird, given that they are for the most senior class in Middle/High School (I won Most Likely to be Remembered in Junior High, though I don't know if people do remember me).
You're not the only one who heard "cannibal".
I really hope we misheard that and that cannibals weren't common enough in Canterlot that there are 31 volumes of them.
I was surprised to learn that Clover the Clever was a dude. I wonder if the Founders were actually 50/50 in the gender department and we just assumed they were all female because the Mane Six played them in the Hearth's Warming Eve play.
Also, given how a huge part of a certain big fic of mine deals with a memory thief ripping out Cheese Sandwich's memories, finding out about canon memory magic (with their own memory thief to boot!) is both funny and awkward for me. Luckily, since there's a Memory Stone involved, and my memory thief used his own magic for memory shenanigans, I can adjust that little headcanon of mine easily.
4799718
Ah ok. Figured I missed something in there. Definitely need to rewatch when I can pay closer attention. Still, I'm wondering what happened with that burst of magic that leaked thru. Was that just a result of Wallflower using the stone at that time in the garden to erase the girls' memories of Sunset? The magic came from the pedestal didn't it? Maybe it has to draw power from Equestria when used.
4799828
If you're referring to the burst at the end of Legend of Everfree, that appeared to be completely unrelated to the Memory Stone. If you're referring to the one during Forgotten Friendship, it was Wallflower using the Stone in the school garden on Friday night and unrelated to the wild magic leaking out of Equestria.
4799814
Sunset getting a superlative in Freshman year is kind of explained by it having been a write in vote. The majority of the school agreed so they made an exception.
4799834
Ok, I'm a ninny. I did mean the one in FF. Just went back and checked that scene and I have no idea why I thought that burst of magic came from the pedestal. It's never even visible during that sequence. That's what I get for watching with a bunch of distractions going on around me.
Actually, it's kinda mine, too. Athazagoraphobia is the big name for it.
No, I heard it, too. According to TV Tropes, it's supposed to be "Canticles".
My first thought was Charlotte Pudding from One Piece. She ate the Memo Memo Fruit, which lets her manipulate memories in a way that resembles pulling film out of people's heads.
Yeah, that occured to me, too. Perhap's it's what Wallflower was imagining?
Remember, destroying knowledge of the past is what the villain is doing. Clover couldn't very well follow in her hoofsteps at the end. So instead he followed a lesson from his teacher and put the artifact someplace it would remain without hurting anyone, in a low-magic parallel dimension.
Like teacher, like student...
4799786 True, but of them all, Wallflower seemed the least actually unhinged or acting like she was losing it, at least till Sunset started backing her into a corner, then it just came off more like normal blind panic. And even then, with the ones that lost it to the magic, there was some logic to it, it amplified their greatest desire, Sunset for power, Sci-Twi for knowledge of magic, Gloriosa to save her camp, Juniper to be adored. Wallflower just... I have no idea where 'not be ignored and forgotten' led to 'wipe out all the good memories of one person that ignored and forgot about her like apparently every single other person at the school did.'
Still loved the special overall, just, weakest villain since Sunset herself, nothing about her whole plan made any sense to me, and I felt no sympathy at all for her.
4799789
neat
I'm glad to see that you have the same opinion of the special as I did. The one thing I really didn't much care for, they both subverted and lampshaded.
Also, it's nice to see that even when Trixie's magic tricks work as intended, she'll still always be a slapstick magician. That revolving doors gag without an actually revolving door was a wonderful adaption of classic comedy.
I really like how Twilights reaction to certain stuff in this episode is what her friends would act like, especially Rarity, Rainbow, and pinkie!
For example, I like how at one point Twilight smiled as wide as pinkie usually would. Another one was when Sunset and Twi we’re walking into the restricted section of the library and she was like “ohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh” like how Rainbow would react to something she likes. The other one I noticed was when Twi found a certain book she started getting really dramatic like rarity!
All in all I loved this episode, it was amazing and I’m happy how Celestias and Sunny’s reunion went.
I give this episode 8 or 9 out of 10!
The only thing that would have made this better was if sunset had wings when she ponied up. I mean come on she had just sacrificed all of her high school memories for her friends! If that’s not alicorn worthy then I don’t know what it! It was kind of a punch in the face when Sci-Twi was monologueing at the villain cause sunset has always been the leader of the EQG group, but I guess I can let is slide because she had just got her memories wiped of all the times she ponied up. Besides my nitpicking of the ending I still loved this episode!
4800102
I imagine there would be a lot of backlash if Sunset shimmer got wings
Starswirl: "So... 'bout that 'trial' you went through. Saw an interesting scroll on that."
Clover: "Yeah yeah, laugh it up. I really must've annoyed her if she tried to get me to back off with petty tricks. I don't even know in which confrontation she made me 'forget' that I'm a mare."
Starswirl: "And ponies were too respectful of the wise and esteemed Clover the Clever to point it out, I presume?"
Clover: "Nor did Tia, or Luna, or you for that matter. Laugh it up, but when you're dead I'm personally changing every legend with you in it to give you a beard. And a silly hat. With bells."
(End of Flashback)
Clover: "He actually got both the hat and the beard a few years after that. Because of course he did."
I guess Maud's always right, now. She said that a rock can have the capability to conquer equestrian, and once again we see a powerful rock with magic that seems almost unbeatable.
I don't keep up with fandom news these days as much as I used to, so this special caught me by surprise, but I enjoyed it a lot. In fact, I probably enjoyed it more than Tales of Canterlot High (Netflix's name for the special trilogy).
I thought Celestia and Sunset's reunion was a little shallow compared to some fanfic renderings of this concept I've seen, but it was still decent, and I'm actually very glad that they tackled the elephant in the room at all. I was sure that the creators were planning to just ignore the Celestia issue forever in the name of keeping the two arms of the franchise separate, but this was a pleasant surprise. I thought Wallflower was a weak villain too, but she was more interesting than Juniper at least, and the memory thing was a neat villain power. Actually, the special had a lot of interesting ideas it played with, surprising amounts of Equestrian lore among them. It felt like a lot happened here, even for the shorter runtime compared to the full-length movies.
I hope we have more specials in this vein. The shorts are good and all, but they really can't compare to an actual story with stakes, drama, and a proper villain.
One tiny detail I really appreciated was that we saw a physical smokebomb in Trixie's hand when she fails to smoke out at the beginning of the movie. They never drew in that detail previously, and it's there to contrast with her magic teleport in the climax to show explicitly that she isn't using a physical smokebomb, to help hammer in THAT TRIXIE JUST FREAKIN TELEPORTED FOR REAL
A wonderful little piece of card synergy I just discovered when looking at cards in the Equestria Girls set. Solar Reunion as designed in this blog post forms a two-card infinite combo with one other FICG design of yours. That card? Sunset, Arrogant Expert, from the first movie. It feels so beautifully appropriate that for the one version of Sunset you've designed where she's still a Unicorn, what she actually needs to fulfil her potential is actually to reconcile with Celestia...
(And yes, it's a two-card combo across four colours. Nopony said fulfilling your potential was easy.)
5203053
And the lifegain from the Reunion offsets Sunset's worse impulses, the way Celestia tried to for so long. I can't say it was intentional, but it's certainly beautiful.